Death Becomes Her (1992)
6 questions
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini, Meryl Streep
Question: In the scene where Goldie Hawn nearly gets her head run over by the car, how do they get that effect? It just looks far too dangerous to be an actual stunt, but it looks too real to be a bluescreen / split screen effect either.
Gary O'ReillyQuestion: In the scene when Madeline falls down the stairs, the stunt double appears to take an impossibly hard fall tumbling down those solid marble steps. It is obvious that CGI was used at the start of the fall, when we see Meryl Streep's face hitting the stairs, but during the tumble there was definitely a stunt double used. Do you know if the stunt double did this fall in one take, as it appears in the film, or if special editing was used to make the fall appear harder and faster than it actually was? I can't believe the stunt double could perform such a hard fall without serious injury, but it looks genuine in the film.
Chosen answer: Special editing was used to make the fall seem faster and longer than what it was. If you watch the fall and look closely you can see that two of the shots used were a repeat. The editors used these two shots twice in the fall in order to make the fall appear longer and faster.
oddy knockyQuestion: When Helen and Madelin are fighting with the shovels, Helen whacks off the end of Madelin's shovel, and then Madelin throws the stick through Helen. How did they achieve this effect?
curiouskidChosen answer: CGI, just like any other difficult effect.
Grumpy ScotQuestion: When Helen and Madelin have finished fighting and they asked Earnest to fix them, how did he fix the great big hole in Helen's stomach?
curiouskidChosen answer: He most likely filled it with something soft, then covered it. You'll notice the lingerie she is wearing completely covers her midsection.
Jason HoffmanQuestion: How come when Lisa is swimming in the pool none of her eyes wash out or anything like the others?
Chosen answer: I don't think she ever died after taking the tonic, unlike Madeline and Helen. She took the potion simply to keep her young good looks and (as stated earlier with Madeline), Lisa is in fact 71 years old with the looks of a 38 year old.
HamsterQuestion: When Streep and Rossellini talk about the potion, Rossellini says "Or as one of my clients simply said -- 'I vant to be alone, yah.'" and Streep replies "No" She's not!" -- Who are they talking about?
HamsterChosen answer: It's a reference to Greta Garbo who abandoned Hollywood shortly after WWII.
Grumpy Scot
Chosen answer: It is a composite shot, with the actor's head added to the scene. They just did a particularly good job on the scene.
Jason Hoffman